Research

Understanding Research

Being able to understand the research process and conduct even small amounts of research is a skill you will need for the rest of your academic career and in life. In this presentation, you will discover how to evaluate sources, paraphrase, not plagiarize, and put together a research presentation.
As you go through the presentation, you will read through information and then be asked a question or two. These questions COUNT AS YOUR GRADE.

Choosing Sources

When you decide on a topic to research, it's important to look at quality sources. That means you want your source to be telling the truth and unbiased. You also want to see that it is recent information, that it is relevant to your topic, and that you can see who is telling you the information.
*UNBIASED: not leaning to one side or another. Telling the story without an opinion.

Choosing Sources

First, let's look at a source being RECENT and RELEVANT.
RECENT means that a source was created or written close to now. A study or an article published in 2023 is going to have more up-to-date information than one published in 1998. 1998. When you are searching for a reliable source, anything within a 10 year period is okay, but the closer it is to today’s date, the better.
Next, you want to make sure that the information is RELEVANT. That means it goes with the topic you are researching. There are many different articles and sources about many different aspects of a topic. For example, the, “First Amendment 101,” article gives information about the 1^st amendment that deals mostly with how it applies to kids and teens. There are also plenty of articles about how it applies to adults, the limits on the first amendment, court cases that involve the first amendment and so on. If you are researching how amendment 1 applies in schools, this article may be very relevant. On the other hand, how it applies to adults may NOT go very well with what you are researching. When you choose a source, you want to make sure you use sources that go with the topic you are research and eliminate ones that don’t.

Multiple Choice

Which of these is the most RECENT?

• An article about ancient Greece written in 2022.

• A study on how robotics can be used in medicine conducted in 2010.

• An interview with someone who was a first responder on 9/11 that was filmed in 2015.

• A photograph taken in 2005.

Multiple Select

Which of these would be okay to use in a research project when evaluating for being a RECENT source? Select ALL that apply.

• An article about ancient Greece written in 2022.

• A study on how robotics can be used in medicine conducted in 2010.

• An interview with someone who was a first responder on 9/11 that was filmed in 2015.

• A photograph taken in 2005.

Multiple Choice

If you were researching how the first amendment applies to high school students and an article called "First Amendment 101" was about how the first amendment works for kids and teens, is this article RELEVANT?

• Yes

• No

• Only if the article was written in the last 10 years

• Only if the article was written longer than 10 years ago

Multiple Choice

If you were researching how the first amendment has been limited over the years and an article called "First Amendment 101" was about how the first amendment works for kids and teens, is this article RELEVANT?

• Yes

• No

• Only if the article was written in the last 10 years

• Only if the article was written longer than 10 years ago

Choosing Sources

You also need to make sure the source is unbiased. This means we want the source to have FACTS, not OPINIONS. A fact is something that is true and can be proven or verified. An opinion is what someone thinks and can be biased, or one-sided. The trouble is many “news articles,” online are really people’s opinions DISGUISED as news. For example, look at these two statements:
1. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced the vote in a letter to House Democrats this week after weeks of noting that there is no requirement for a full House vote.
2. It was theater; everyone knows the hyper-politicized Democratic House will impeach. It’s a weak case, but that doesn’t matter.
The first sentence tells you what happened. YOU get to form an opinion about that sentence, it is not telling you what to think. The second sentence tells you how to feel about what happened. It tells you that you should think the Democrats are "hyper-politicized," and that their case is "weak." It gives no information so that you can think about to form YOUR opinion. Instead it tells you how to feel and what to think.
The first statement is unbiased. The second is biased. In this example, the first statement is a better resource for research and information.

Choosing Sources

When it comes to internet sources, you also want to watch out for ads. If a source or website has a bunch of ads on it, sometimes that can mean that this is not a reliable source. If a website is immediately covered with ads the moment you log onto it, this can be a red-flag that it is not a reliable source. Many times advertisements help pay for the organization that is running the website. Some ads are expected, but too many can indicate that the information on the site can be biased or unreliable.

In addition, sources should have a person or source that is responsible for it’s content. That is, if there is something untrue or wrong with a source, someone should be able to correct it. For that reason, reliable sources should have an author listed, or should come from a well-know, reliable place, like the History Channel or the Smithsonian.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following statements is unbiased?

• Mrs. Keeran, the best and most talented teacher on campus, graciously chaperones the DC trip.

• Ms. Loschiavo takes the unrealistic payments for the DC trip, priced far too high for families to afford.

• Mr. McGrory has snacks on the DC bus that are really healthy and tasty.

• Mrs. Keeran, Ms. Loschiavo, and Mr. McGrory are three of the teachers who are chaperoning the DC trip.

Multiple Select

Choose the two BEST sources to use for research based on ad space.

Multiple Select

Click on the picture and look closely. Select all that apply below.

• I can find an author on this site.

• This site is from a trusted corporation, like the Smithsonian.

• This site is a good source to use for research.

• This site is not a good source for research.

Putting it all together

When you are evaluating sources, you have to think about rating them like a restaurant review. If you want an amazing meal, you would look for a place with a 5-Star review. If you wanted a pretty good meal, but didn't want to pay a lot, you might go somewhere with a 3-Star review. But you probably would not want to go somewhere with only 1 or 2 Stars.
Your sources for research should be the same. A source that can earn 5 stars is a great source to use. You could still use a 3 star source. But you SHOULDN'T use a 1 or 2 star source.

Wait, what do you mean by Stars?

Think about all the things we talked about for reliable sources-- recent, relevant, unbiased, ads, and authors/sources. Each on of those things should earn a source a star.

Recent: Is the article within the last 10 years?	Relevant: Does the article apply to teens and the 1st amendment?	Fact vs. Opinion: Is the article mostly facts?	Ads: This one has been done for you. The online version of the article contained few ads.	Author/ Source: Was an author or source listed for this information?

When you look at a source, spend a minute rating it. If it can't earn at least 3 stars, you shouldn't use it.

Multiple Select

Click on this link and review the source. Then, check off all the ways it earned a star. Let's say your research topic is how the first amendment affects students. NOTE: You shouldn't have to read the whole article. Just skim the site in order to rate it.

https://upfront.scholastic.com/issues/2017-18/010818/first-amendment-101.html?language=english#1120L

• Recent: This article earns a star for being written within the last 10 years.

• Relevant: This article earns a star because the information goes with my "topic"

• Unbiased: This article earns a star because it is mostly facts, not opinions.

• Ads: This article earns a star because it does not have too many ads

• Author/ Source: This article earns a star because it lists an author and/or it is from a well-respected organization.

Paraphrasing, not Plagiarism

Here are some tips for paraphrasing:
Some other tips on paraphrasing:

·       Use words you know and know how to pronounce

·       Use your summary skills to get the main parts of the research

·       You may not need everything your research says. Narrow down your summary to just the parts of the research that answers your questions or helps you present your topic.

·       DON’T just copy the text word for word.

·       DON’T copy almost every word and just change a few things.

·       Pretend someone asked you about what your research was about. Write down what you would say.

Look at this example

The first amendment is important to democracy. It allows citizens to ask the government for change, tell powerful people when they are doing something wrong, and be organized so that we can vote. Even though first amendment freedoms apply to everyone, sometimes there are special rules for minors.

Paraphrased Version

“Freedom of expression is the engine oil that makes democracies function,” says Ross. “It gives us the right to criticize the powerful, to demand change, and to learn what is going on in our society so we can organize for political action and be informed voters.”

First Amendment freedoms are for all Americans, but the rules sometimes differ for young people—especially in public schools, which are considered an extension of the government.

​Original Text

Paraphrasing, not Plagiarism

When you are done with the research, you also need to give credit to the places you found your information. You do this by creating a bibliography. A bibliography is a specific format to listing the sources you used in your research.
For example, a bibliography for the Amendment 101 article might look like this:

Bibliography

Anastasia, L. (2018, January 8). First Amendment 101. Upfront: Scholastic.

 

Multiple Choice

Look at the passage. Then select which option below is a good paraphrase.

School officials have the right to limit your clothing choices and speech if they think either might interfere with learning. So if you stand up and start yelling in class, mentioning your First Amendment rights won’t prevent you from getting detention. (Even outside of school, free expression has its limits. As the late Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, “The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theater and causing a panic.”)

• School officials have the right to limit your clothing choices and speech if they think either might interfere with learning

• School officials can limit your clothes if they think it interferes with learning.

• If a student is exercising their right to free speech at school, it is not allowed to disrupt the learning process.

• Even outside of school, free expression has its limits

Multiple Choice

Which of the following shows a correct bibliography?

• "First Amendment 101"

• Bibliography

  Anastasia, L. (2018, January 8). First Amendment 101. Upfront: Scholastic.

   

• Scholastic.com. First Amendment 101

• Google.com